Vern Bickford Joins the Collection, Only Four To Go

Before last week, I needed five former Orioles' autographs to complete my collection. I had the luck to pick up this signed Vern Bickford image and since he wasn't pictured on any Orioles cards during his lifetime, he is now completely knocked off of my list.

Vern pitched seven seasons in the Major Leagues from 1948-54, mainly for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves. He threw his first big league pitch at the age of 27, and likely would've reached baseball's top level sooner if not for his three years of military service during World War 2. Vern's first four seasons in the Majors were very good but he broke a finger on his pitching hand during the '51 campaign and it never fully recovered. He pitched in a single game for the inaugural 1954 Orioles before a pinched nerve and the subsequent surgery effectively ended his career. 

His career highlights include throwing a no-hitter in 1950, making the 1949 National League All-Star team, and leading the N.L. in complete games, innings pitched, and batters faced, also in 1950. 

Vern sold cars, worked as a carpenter, and as a traveling salesman after his baseball career ended. He passed away in 1960 from stomach cancer at only 39 years old. He was the third earliest former Oriole to die, following only Howie Fox in 1955, and Tom Gastall in 1956. 

Vern was featured on a number of cards that were issued during his lifetime, but is pictured as a member of the Braves on all of them. The only card to show him as an Oriole was the O's Crown set that came out 31 years after his passing, so, obviously, no signed copies of that card exist. His autograph is hard to track down on anything , mainly since he's been dead for over fifty years, so I was very happy to add this signed photo to my collection. I am interested in finding out about what town this was taken in, or what those shops are in the background, but I guess it's pretty unlikely that I will ever figure that out. 

RIP Vern. 

Nachos Grande Autograph Week Questionnaire

Nachos Grande is having an autograph week to highlight all the signatures in his collection. Since this is a blog that's almost exclusively about autographs, this seems like a perfect topic for me to chime in on. And since I've been having some issues coming up with post ideas on my own this week, I figured that this is a perfect opportunity for me to try to come up with something interesting to write about.

1.  What is the best autograph you own?

This one is really tough for me, and I honestly don't even know where to begin. I really like all of my Orioles autographs and there are probably 20-30 that I would put on top of my favorites list. Here are a few of them. 

Cal is my favorite Oriole, and Kalina gave me this card so that's double the reason to like it. 

There are many others that I really like due to their scarcity like...

and

Tom Gastall who died in a 1956 plane crash

and

Fox's autograph is tough to find as he died in 1955 and was a gift from my dad, 

so it's another double good whammy 

2.  What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

Hands down, Scott Moore, since this is the only Orioles autograph I've ever pulled from a pack. I ended up trading my copy away for other autographs I needed and I had gotten his autograph in person a few times, but no doubt that this was my best pull.

3.  What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
I don't really think there are any bad autographs. That being said, I've pulled a few crappy looking sticker autographs including one that looks a lot like this.

It seems that Michel had a hard time staying inside the lines, but I blame Tristar for throwing this crap in the pack as is.

4.  Do you try to get autographs through the mail?  If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?
Ha, yes, I've dabbled. Probably sent out something like 500 over the course of my life. My best success ever was probably Nolan Ryan way back in the early '90s. I would suggest sending to older players, as they are much more likely to sign than current guys.

5.  Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?
Now there's a great idea for a post. It was Miguel Garcia on a Senators card in either the very late '80s or early '90s.

6.  Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?
If you're reading this on my blog, I think you already know the answer to this one. Orioles autographs are kind of my thing.

7.  Which is better:  Autographs or Relics?
Again, my answer is rather obvious. Autographs are king for me.

8.  What do you think of cut autos?
I could do without them, but I'm fine with them if they can fill a hole in my collection.

9.  What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?
Not sure, but absolutely prefer on card autographs. I do recall liking some sort of a stained glass looking autograph set I've seen, but don't remember what it's called.

10.  If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?
Vern Bickford, George Brunet, Bert Hamric, Lou Jackson and Frank Kellert are the only five Orioles players who I don't have autographs of, so it would definitely be them. 

Thanks for the great post idea Chris! And if you haven't checked out Nachos Grande, I suggest you head over there now.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Howie Fox, My Favorite Wedding Present

As one of my few family members or friends, besides my wonderful wife, who understands my autograph collecting ways, my dad has happily supported my hobby since I was a little kid. He would take me early to games to try to get autographs and I remember waiting with him for hours after an Orioles game in the 2131 era Cal autograph lines inside Camden Yards more than once .

So it's fitting that someone who understands me and my collection so well was the one who added such an important piece to the puzzle. My dad's wedding gift to me, among other things, was this AMAZING Howie Fox autograph.

 

Howie, along with Tom Gastall whose autograph I tracked down over the winter, were honestly two guys' autographs who I thought I would never obtain when I started my project. Both have been dead over 50 years, and the likelihood of adding their autographs to my collection just seemed too remote. Well, now I've scratched them both off of my want list and I couldn't be happier. I've also learned that a few other deceased former Orioles' autographs might be even harder to track down than these two, but I'm not going to let that take away from this milestone.

Fox pitched in the Major Leagues for nine seasons between 1944-54 with the Reds, Phillies and Orioles, spending seven of his nine seasons in Cincinnati before single season stints in Philadelphia and Baltimore at the end of his career. It's possible that Howie would have pitched a few more years in the Majors, but his life was cut tragically short in October 1955. I've read conflicting accounts about the events leading up to his death, but it's a fact that he was stabbed to death in a Texas bar. Some accounts state that he was involved in a fight while others say he owned the bar and was trying to throw out some trouble-makers when things took a bad turn. Either way, Howie was only 34 when he died of his injuries from that day.

The fact that he died almost 56 years ago makes his autograph rather hard to track down, as you might imagine. But since he did pitch in the Majors for almost ten seasons, there are a few of them floating around, but they aren't cheap. Fox was included in the 1954 Topps set as an Oriole, so theoretically there might be a signed copy of that somewhere, but I doubt I will ever see one.

One of my favorite parts of this postcard, besides the autograph of course, is the back of it. I don't know how well you can see it in the scan but it's outstanding.  From the two cent "stamped" stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin, to the August 21, 1954 postmark, to the plea of "Don't Wait Join Civil Defense Now", looking at this is like stepping back in time. And I applaud the forward thinking Jim Davidson for putting together this Orioles postcard so that I could eventually add it to my collection.

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Tom Gastall

 

Almost two years ago when I started this project, I pegged Tom as being a possible "White Whale" for my project. Well, the White Whale has been landed. I picked up this wonderfully imperfect signed note sheet for the collection.

Tom Gastall was a "bonus-baby" catcher for the Orioles in 1955 & '56 and played 52 games over those two seasons. (As far as I understand it, bonus-babies were like first round draft picks today, except they were technically free agents since there wasn't a draft and it was stipulated that they spend their first two seasons with the big league club that signed them.) The O's obviously thought that Tom had some real potential to blossom. He was very athletic and had been a three sport star in high school and college, excelling at baseball, basketball & football, and was even drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1955.

Tom secretly was learning how to fly so he could play winter ball in Venezuela and had bought a used plane for practice. On September 20, 1956 Tom's plane crashed into the Chesapeake Bay. After five days of searching, his body was discovered by rescuers; Tom's life was over at age 24. On the 50th anniversary of Tom's death, John Eisenberg wrote a great article in the Baltimore Sun about him. John does a much better job than I ever could of writing about the tragic events surrounding Tom's life and death, so check out the link.

Because Tom passed away so many years ago, his autograph is hard to track down. There have been a few signatures posted on ebay priced in the hundreds of dollars which is well out of my price range. The same autographs keep popping up and not selling, so I think the owners might be pricing Tom's autograph a little too high. This above unsigned picture (image borrowed from ebay) is even listed for $100. It's obviously the picture that was used to make his Crown card, which is his only Orioles card and was created 35 years after his death, so he obviously never signed one of them. I picked up my signed note sheet on ebay for a very reasonable price, and am thrilled to have an autograph of a player who died so long ago. You're next Howie Fox!

Since I wrote that post in March 2009, I've discovered that their might be a few autographs of other former Orioles that are harder to obtain because the players "disappeared" for many years following their playing careers. The only autographs that exist of them would've had to have been signed during their playing careers and survived over many years. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have an autograph of a player who has been dead for almost 55 years.

RIP Tom.